Recently there seems to be a consistent conversation taking place amongst us. (by “us” I mean both Volunteers and folks in America) “You’ve been there a year and a half, what do you miss/grateful for?” Not an unusual question at all. Happy to reply. A few weeks ago I had nothing short of a reawakening of sorts involving, of all things: Worchester Sauce. I am by no means unhappy with the cuisine here actually, however, certain tastes upon reentering our body’s orbit, manage to bring to the frontal lobe memories, such as prime rib.
That being said, during the remainder of my time, it will be my mission to expose these Armenians in my town to as many different delicacy’s as possible. Starting with Tabasco Sauce. If you remember Thanksgiving last year, I was introduced to an excellent dish. This year I brought, literally, to the table New Orleans finest; and it was well received. Generally, I like this with eggs, hashbrowns or fish to spice it up. They had a completely different idea about how this was to be used. I respectfully just watched as my precious sauce was being dumped into little clear glasses for … you guessed it, clear liquid death. To each their own.
Everything written about the capital, Beirut, like “Paris of the Middle East”, actually for the most part turned out to be true – it’s expensive, shopping, good nightlife, and good food. Outside of Beirut, heading up the mountains toward Syria, is where Lebanon gets really nice. Byblos was hotter than f%^@ the day I went, but still nice to be in the Mediterranean again. 2 things I didn’t know before coming to Lebanon: very … very good wine here. 
Rumors about the 6 to 10 hour waits at the border for visas didn’t happen. I waited on average, going there and coming back, for about 2 hours at the Syrian land border. Devuldging this information, you’re all screwed and wait times inevitably will increase. Damascus, very authentic. The mosque, for my money, is a much better visit then the Blue Mosque. Walking around the Old City, and the Christian section, still had an older, more genuine feel, as opposed to Istanbul. Cheap hotels all over the place, but for $18 a night, the 
Ahh, the Bedouin. Jordan – other than Petra – I didn’t know a whole lot about this place, though my good friends in DC, lived here and were born here. So, of course, I crashed with their family. Amman was a complete surprise, again cause I knew hardly anything prior. Petra, the Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo, etc. all lived up and surpassed expectations. It was also good to see our Jordanian participant from 
Yekrord (“Second”, in Armenian). Continuing along those same lines of cross-culture exchange, a much more artistic event took place in the nearby town where Japanese folk dancers visited and danced alongside Armenian folk dancers. The reception was held at a restaurant adjacent the university. Both repertoires were well received by the audience. You think that was interesting, imagine being our Japanese-American Peace Corps Volunteer who actually lives in that town.
